Centre proposes CCTV cover for medical stores to check prescription drug misuse
The health ministry has floated a draft amendment mandating CCTV surveillance at retail medical stores to curb sale of prescription drugs without valid prescriptions.
Retail medical stores across the country could soon be required to install closed-circuit television cameras, with the Union health ministry proposing an amendment to the Drugs Rules, 1945 to tighten oversight of prescription medicines.
The proposal was issued through a draft gazette notification on 8 September, and the ministry has placed it in the public domain, inviting objections and suggestions from stakeholders as well as members of the public.
The amendment is aimed at strengthening regulatory control over Schedule H, H1 and X drugs — categories that cannot be sold over the counter. According to the ministry, the measure responds to concerns about unauthorised access to and sale of these medicines, and recommends mandatory CCTV surveillance at medical stores as an additional regulatory safeguard.
The proposal follows recommendations from the Drugs Technical Advisory Board, which took up the matter after deliberations by the Drugs Consultative Committee.
Officials expect that once notified, the rules will improve monitoring of how these medicines are sold and distributed, and help curb their sale without valid prescriptions. Cameras inside retail premises are intended to create a record of transactions involving prescription drugs, which the ministry says will enhance transparency and accountability across the pharmaceutical supply chain and strengthen public health safeguards.
The ministry has also said the draft addresses existing compliance gaps in the day-to-day operation of retail pharmacies.
Schedule H medicines, which carry the Rx symbol, can be sold only against a prescription from a registered medical practitioner. The category includes blood pressure and diabetes drugs, certain antibiotics and basic psychiatric medicines.
Schedule H1 is a stricter class. Besides requiring a prescription, chemists must maintain a log of the patient, the prescribing doctor and the drug for three years. It covers some habit-forming medicines and advanced antibiotics.
Schedule X drugs, which include narcotics and psychotropics such as morphine, carry a high risk of abuse and addiction. They are specially licensed, must be kept in a secure facility, and can be dispensed only against two copies of a prescription, with the chemist retaining one copy for two years.